As part of a program commemorating National Donate Life Month, the USC Transplant Institute hosted a flag-raising ceremony on Friday, April 4, in front of Keck Hospital of USC. The event aimed to recognize and celebrate eye, organ and tissue donors; recipients; and the physicians who make these donations possible.

National Donate Life Month has been observed since 2003 as an effort to raise awareness about donation and to encourage more enrollment. It also honors those who have saved lives by choosing to donate.

This most recent flag-raising event served as an opportunity to call for further participation in organ and tissue donation. During the event, Annette Sy, chief nursing executive for Keck Medical Center of USC, highlighted the important role organ donation plays in the effort to save lives. Organ donors and recipients present at the event also shared their experiences with the audience and acknowledged the critical role Keck Medicine has played in the effort to protect and prolong life.

“Raising this flag has become a symbol of unity, remembrance and hope,” said Sy. “We began conducting organ transplants in 1991 with the successful transplant of a kidney. This was followed by a lung in 1992, a heart in 1993 and a liver in 1996, while the first living-donor liver was transplanted in 1999.”

Keck Medicine has transplanted more than 6,000 organs since performing its first organ transplant in 1991, and according to data from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients, patients at Keck Hospital have some of the nation’s highest rates of survival with functioning transplants one year after surgery. As of March 31, 2025, Keck Medical Center has performed 87 transplants since the beginning of year, which includes 45 kidneys, 32 livers, 6 lungs and 4 hearts.

During the ceremony, leadership acknowledged that this April marks the 26th anniversary of the organization’s first live-liver donation. May will also see the 29th anniversary of the organization’s first liver transplant recipient, who continues to thrive.

As the program came to a close, Sy commended the medical center’s remarkable transplantation achievements and thanked the donors, physicians and accompanying support staff and personnel who allow these accomplishments to be successful.

“Your presence here today is an opportunity for us to build awareness about the importance of organ donation and to encourage those who are able to give the gift of life,” said Sy. “We can be proud of the fact that more than 170 million people throughout the country have registered as organ, eye and tissue donors. Organ transplants save lives, and your dedication to this cause continues to keep the light of life alive, when it otherwise would have been extinguished.”

— Matthew Vasiliauskas